On October 15th, Shia Rights Watch attended Thailand’s Mission to the UN’s event entitled “Advancing Women’s Peace and Security” at the UN Headquarters in New York. At this event, the panelists spoke about the importance of the impact that women have on peace processes.
Data, both quantitative and qualitative were employed to see how women impact these peace processes. A growing body of evidence shows that when women are involved heavily throughout the peace process, states are less likely to experience an increasing and continuing conflict. When you measure the presence of women in all forms at peace agreements, there is a positive impact on the duration of peace. Including women in the peace process increased the probability of success at least 20% in the first two years.
During peace processes, women are more likely to speak about human needs. These needs include protection for children, the elderly, stigmatized groups, etc. In a focus group, women would rank the needs of children much higher than men in the group. In addition to this, women would prioritize things such as affordability of goods and the availability of jobs. Lastly, this focus group was able to determine that when women are empowered in discussions determining the setup of a nation, the social safety net is increased by 50%.
The statements presented at this event were enlightening and provided a glimpse into the intricacies of peace processes. While this is important for the countries overcoming traumatic periods, it is even more important for ethnic and religious minorities that are seeking greater protection in the states they are living in.
